Jorge Prado has been the class of the MXGP pack since the first round of the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship and cemented that position at Maggiora – he was crowned World Champion with three motos to spare. The championship was the first for GASGAS’ MC 450F machine. Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing finished the historic day with another double podium.
Words & Images: Red Bull Factory GASGAS
In a virtual press release yesterday, Jorge revealed that he “didn’t even look at my pitboard in the last few laps! I was so focused on winning that race, I didn’t see that Febvre had stopped even. I celebrated the race win, then saw all of the team celebrating and then realised that I was World Champion! It was a big surprise!”
Jorge also noted that “It has been a stressful few months with such a big points lead. I was often scared to go riding in the week in case I got injured. Every week I was just waiting for the weekend. It was important to me that I always won at least one race every weekend, and I won more races than anybody all season, even though I only won two GPs overall. I never think about records and titles, just trying to win each time I am on track. I will stay in MXGP for the immediate future. I would like to race with the #1 but we will decide later what to race with in 2024.”
• Jorge Prado crowned MXGP world champion.
• GASGAS’ MC 450F claims maiden world title.
• Simon Längenfelder tied for MX2 overall win.
Jorge Prado clinched his world title with a brilliant victory in the first moto – the power within his MC 450F helped him jump into the early lead and he controlled proceedings from that point on. A minor fall in the second moto robbed him off the overall victory – he eventually ended sixth and lost the win via a tiebreak – but the grand prize was firmly within his grasp. 10 pole positions, 219 laps led, 16 Grand Prix podiums and 14 moto wins underline the dominant campaign that resulted in him being crowned champion. The statistics that Prado compiled will become a benchmark for years to come.
Jorge Prado: “I am so happy! It is a pity about that mistake in the second moto, but I am the new world champion. So much hard work has gone into this, from myself and the team, and I knew that I could make this happen. I have held the red plate since round one – I cannot ask for anything better. This is a dream.”
Simon Längenfelder operated on top form once again – he was on the gas all day and gave his team even more to celebrate. A dominant win in moto one took his tally of victories to seven, the second highest in MX2, and put him in a brilliant position to contend for the overall. Unfortunately, he just missed out on a tiebreak via a second in the final moto. 1-2 scores put him second overall at the Grand Prix of Italy and kept him in contention for a silver medal in the final championship standings.
Mattia Guadagnini continued to make some progress in just the second race since he returned from injury. Eleventh was a solid start to the Grand Prix, after starting fourteenth, and he followed that with a thirteenth in moto two. 11-13 scores put him twelfth in the overall classification.
Simon Längenfelder: “It was almost a perfect weekend! I won the qualification race and had two holeshots today. I won the first race with a nice gap! I had a hard fight in the second moto – it went all the way to the end! I ended up going 1-2 for second. It was still a great weekend! I am looking forward to the finale.”
There is a single fixture left on the 2023 FIM Motocross World Championship calendar. The Grand Prix of Great Britain, round nineteen, will be held on September 24. Red Bull GASGAS Factory Racing will attempt to finish their title-winning term in fine form.
